Nonconvertible car seats designed to support an infant or toddler are presently available. If a parent is taking the child along on a shopping trip, for example, the child is placed in the conventional child's car seat until the car arrives at the shopping center. Typically a separate stroller is opened up, and the child is physically transferred from the car seat to the stroller. Generally such strollers are collapsible, and must be manipulated to be converted into their full operating size and configuration. The removal of a sometimes uncooperative child from a car seat, in order to place the child in the stroller, is somewhat annoying, particularly if the child starts "acting up". Upon the return trip, the stroller has to be collapsed, to conveniently store it in the car, and the child, who may be sleeping, must be transferred back to the car seat.
One convertible stroller, described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,911 by Lantz, does not permit the child to remain in the stroller during conversion to a car seat. The wheels must be retracted independently, and each front wheel has its own locking mechanism which must be separately disengaged by hand. The stroller must be tipped onto its side or elevated well above the ground before the wheels can be positioned inside of the superstructure of the carriage. Further, the back rest element collapses during conversion and does not support the child in the car seat configuration.